Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has delivered the first of two Musherib-class offshore patrol vessels to the Qatar Emiri Navy.
The handover ceremony took place at the shipbuilder’s Muggiano shipyard and followed the ship’s launch in September 2020. Musherib (Q62) was handed over after it first began trials in April last year.
Sheraouh, the second of the two 63-meter OPVs, was launched in June 2021 and is also scheduled for delivery this year.
Fincantieri is building the two ships as part of a wider 4 billion euro contract signed in 2016 that envisions the delivery of a total of seven ships. In addition to the OPVs, Fincantieri will be delivering four Al-Zubarah-class corvettes by 2023, as well as a landing platform dock ship that is expected to be similar in design to the Italian Navy’s San Giorgio-class amphibious transport dock.
The OPVs will have a maximum speed of 30 knots and will accommodate up to 38 crew members. The propulsion system has four variable pitch propellers, two to starboard and two to the left, each in line with a diesel propulsion engine. Furthermore, the vessels will be capable of operating a RHIB (rigid hull inflatable boat) through a crane located at the stern.
In addition to a 76mm main gun, the OPVs will feature 8-cell VLS cells for the employment of surface-to-air missiles, while anti-ship capability will be provided by Exocet anti-ship missiles.
